Hillsborough: Justice at Last
The bodies laid out on the hard wooden floor
Motionless all, side by side
Robbed of their lives and let down by the law
Give us justice, they silently cried
They came for the football, their heroes in red
Part of a jubilant tide
Who knew such a day could end up with them dead?
Give us justice, they silently cried
In loud expectation, with glory the goal
They’d sung and they’d shouted their pride
Now shrouded in silence, each newly-fled soul
Give us justice, they silently cried
Betrayed by their guardians, those officers high
While the hacks and the suits squirmed and lied
With family and friends left to ask how and why
Give us justice, they silently cried
Inquest proceedings, foul slurs in the press
The guilty with so much to hide
These innocent victims with naught to confess
Give us justice, they silently cried
And what of the mothers and dads left behind
The sisters and brothers beside
As months and years passed they were not left resigned
Give us justice! they angrily cried
Through decades of struggle, they kept up the fight
Their arguments oft undermined
Yet they never lost hope nor extinguished the light
Give us justice! they angrily cried
Pouring scorn on the tabloids, exposing the Sun
Sharing the Truth far and wide
Politicians and journos and chiefs on the run
Give us justice! they angrily cried
Banners and flags on the Kop all these years
Venting the fury inside
Pressing the point through the veil of their tears
Give us justice! they angrily cried
At last the truth spoken, the guilty revealed
The living and dead unified
In one voice as they ask for their scars to be healed
Give us justice! they angrily cried
Seven and twenty the years that have passed
A lifetime of justice denied
The ones who were lost can be peaceful at last
And the families, who stood by their side.
RIP – You’ll Never Walk Alone
Rob Atkinson
Life, Leeds United, the Universe & Everything 
A touching tribute.
LikeLike
A beautiful ode to the brave battling families and the victims of a covered up plot to deny them their true justice.
I was at the Brighton game that cruel day Rob,you travelled with Jonathan Duff,his dad and myself.We travelled back in virtual silence thinking about the 1987 semi all 4 of us attended.It could have been the fans our beloved club who could have been fighting the hierarchy that be for justice of our own.
RIP the Liverpool 96 you can rest in peace now knowing that you were the innocent victims of the police state that was in the 1980’s.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thinking back to that ’87 Cup run, and trying to sort my memories out – I think it might have been Jonathan’s dad I was with in the West Stand when we played QPR in round 5 and Ormsby scored that stonking header at the Kop end. SO long ago now!
LikeLike
Rob, what a beautiful poem.
Tears again.
(Yes I was one
Of the many survivors of that terrible day and have lived with the slurs and
lies for years and to some extent still do)
Thank you.
LikeLike